“Star Wars: The Acolyte” One-Shot Comic Announced

A new one-shot comic is coming to highlight one of the new characters in Star Wars: The Acolyte. What’s Happening: Kelnacca, the first live-action Wookiee Jedi, is receiving a special comic book story alongside the finale of The Acolyte on Disney+. Gizmodo reports that Star Wars: The Acolyte #1 is being released on September 4th, after the show’s […]

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New Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge 5th Anniversary Merchandise Available at Walt Disney World

A new T-shirt and limited edition pin celebrating the fifth anniversary of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has arrived at Walt Disney World Resort.

New Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge 5th Anniversary Merchandise

On a recent visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we found the following items for sale in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The items celebrate the fifth anniversary of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which opened on May 31, 2019 at Disneyland Park and August 29, 2019 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Adult T-Shirt – $34.99

WDW DHS SWGE 5th Anniversary T Shirt

First up is a navy blue Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge 5th Anniversary T-shirt. At the top of the shirt, “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” is written in yellow and surrounded by stars and planets of varying sizes.

A navy blue t-shirt celebrating the "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge 5th Anniversary," featuring a sci-fi cityscape with spaceships and yellow accents.

Beneath the words is a picture of half of the Millennium Falcon in front of the silhouetted show building for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. Silhouetted images of BB-8, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 stand beneath the space freighter. Below the picture, the words “5th Anniversary” are written in light blue.

Close-up of the back of a navy blue t-shirt featuring a "5th Anniversary" logo above "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge." This special 5th Anniversary merchandise showcases stylized images of the Millennium Falcon and skyline.

The back of the shirt features a Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge 5th anniversary logo up by the neckline. “5th Anniversary” is light blue and sits inside a yellow Millennium Falcon. The Falcon flies above a silhouetted Black Spire Outpost.

Limited Edition 5th Anniversary Pin – $19.99

A hand holds a limited edition Star Wars Galaxy's Edge pin from 2024, featuring characters and the text "5th Anniversary." More Anniversary Merchandise pins are displayed on a wall in the background.

The limited edition pin features Rey, Chewbacca, R2-D2, BB-8, and Vi Moradi. The five characters are centered beneath an X-wing as it flies overhead.

A hand holding a limited edition Star Wars Galaxy's Edge 5th Anniversary pin, featuring characters and the year 2024, against a background of similar Anniversary Merchandise on display.

The landmarks of Black Spire Outpost fill in the area behind the characters in different shades of yellow, brown, grey, and blue. The words “5th Anniversary” at the bottom of the pin add the final touches to this collector’s item.

swge Ki Adi Mundi legacy lightsaber set 2

Earlier this week, the new Ki-Adi-Mundi Legacy Lightsaber collectible box set was announced. The item is now available from the Disney Store and at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities in both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort.

Will you be heading to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to pick up the latest 5th Anniversary merchandise?

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram.

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“Jim Henson Idea Man” Original Soundtrack Now Available to Stream

The Original Soundtrack for the new Disney+ documentary Jim Henson Idea Man is now available on all your favorite streaming platforms. What’s Happening: Composer David Fleming has written the score to the much-anticipated documentary Jim Henson Idea Man. The soundtrack, released by Hollywood Records, is available today, May 31st, on digital platforms, coinciding with the documentary’s release […]

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Photos: Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge 5th Anniversary Collection Released

A special collection has been released celebrating Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge 5th anniversary. This includes the usual suspects, including pins and t-shirts. A three poster set featuring the attractions of Batuu is also one of the included items in the collection. It’s also currently available on the Disney Store. Also included within the new merchandise drop […]

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Pixar Considering ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Incredibles’ Sequels, ‘Inside Out’ Disney+ Series Coming in 2025

Pixar Animation Studios executives are considering more sequels and reboots of their most popular films as they try to right the studio’s reputation as the best of the best. In a new report by Bloomberg, Pixar President Jim Morris, Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, and Senior VP of Development Lindsey Collins spoke about the studio’s struggles and their plans for the future.

Pixar’s Struggles

Joe Gardner from "Soul," Luca from "Luca," and Mei from "Turning Red"

Pixar’s downturn in success started after former Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter left amid accusations of sexual harassment and COVID-19 hit the industry. Pixar’s “Onward” was released in early March 2020 and experienced barely any time in theaters. Their next three films — “Soul,” “Luca,” and “Turning Red” — were released on Disney+ in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Docter said Disney’s decision to stream the movies instead of hold them for theaters “felt a little like a death.”

The Disney+ releases proved to have an impact on audiences, making them less interested in seeing Pixar’s films in theaters. “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear” and Pixar original “Elemental” both had unsuccessful theatrical runs. “Lightyear” suffered from bans in some countries due to a same-sex kiss and “Elemental” had Pixar’s worst box office numbers ever.

“We were all kind of gut-punched, and it was tough on morale,” Morris said. “I thought it was a good film with a Pixar feel, so when it didn’t work, that was like, ‘Whoa.’ I was thinking, ‘Do people just not want to see the kind of film we make anymore? Is that done?’”

Docter said, “There was a real and intense period of self-scrutiny and feeling like we messed up in some way.”

Pixar’s Future

Split image: the left side shows Pixar's "Finding Nemo" movie poster with underwater characters, and the right side features Pixar's "The Incredibles" movie poster with a superhero family in action poses.

These disappointments sparked Morris to shift the studio’s strategy by balancing original movies with sequels and spinoffs, hoping to remind audiences why they love Pixar movies. “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles” are reportedly at the top of the list for potential reboots or sequels.

Morris wants Pixar to make three movies every year instead of one. Every other title will be a sequel or spinoff.

The stories will also be less focused on autobiographical stories like “Luca,” “Turning Red,” and “Elemental,” which were all inspired by the directors’ families. They’ll instead be developing concepts with “clear mass appeal,” which have already been proven with films like “Finding Nemo.”

I don’t think we can ever let ourselves off the hook of making sure that we deliver the best possible and most relatable films.

Pete Docter

The executives are aware of the risks that come with sequels. Lindsey Collins has been with Pixar since 1997. She was appointed Senior Vice President for Development in 2022 to help Morris and Docter determine which Pixar stories they should revisit.

Collins is advising on the development of movies to be released in 2027 and later, so most of her work is under wraps. But she runs hypotheticals by her teenage son, Cash.

The other day, I was like, ‘What if I told you we were making an Incredibles 3?’ And he was like, ‘Money grab.’ And I was like, ‘F—.’ Sequels are a double-edged sword, because the audience can be brutal and so quick to judge. Unless they’re worthy.

Lindsey Collins

This report comes right after Pixar announced they would be laying off 14% of their workforce — about 175 employees. The layoffs are part of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s “mandate to return to a focus on quality, versus churning out content for streaming” (via The Hollywood Reporter). They follow significant layoffs in nearly every other segment of Disney since Iger’s return as chief.

“Inside Out 2,” “Elio,” and Disney+

Colorful cartoon emotion characters in Inside Out 2

The highly-anticipated “Inside Out 2” hits theaters on June 14. The first “Inside Out” grossed $858.8 million and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Pixar is giving the sequel about 100 days in theaters and it’s already expected to be a big success, perhaps the first film of the year to gross $100 million in its opening weekend.

With a sequel, if you put something out there that doesn’t have the goods, then you will be punished for it. Having had the doldrums we did, it will certainly be a good test with ‘Inside Out 2’ for us to see: Does this stuff still work, or does it not?

Jim Morris

Elio

“Elio,” an original story idea directed by “Coco” writer Adrian Molina, was originally set to be Pixar’s first film in 2024. However, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes forced Disney to delay it until 2025. “Inside Out 2,” which was further along, took priority.

“It may have been serendipitous for us that it worked out that way,” Morris said. “’Elio’ seems like it’s a good film, but with ‘Inside Out 2,’ at least we’ll get to see if a dyed-in-the-wool Pixar film with known intellectual property still works.”

Although they’re hoping to lean away from the autobiographical, “Inside Out” and “Inside Out 2” are both inspired by the directors’ experiences with their children. Docter, director and co-writer of “Inside Out,” based the story on his experiences with his young daughter. When making the first, he didn’t consider a sequel. But after its success, Kelsey Mann pitched a follow-up inspired by his experiences with his own daughter. Mann directs “Inside Out 2” from a screenplay by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein.

There’s a flavor of film that we make that’s a little bit unique. They’re small stories written on a large canvas, and when they’re at their best, they’ve given the audience something to laugh about, cry about and think about a little bit. I’m optimistic that ‘Inside Out 2’ will tell us that there is still a place for those kinds of films.

Jim Morris

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Pixar is also developing a Disney+ series based on “Inside Out” called “Dream Productions,” inspired by the section of Riley’s mind that creates dreams. It will stream next year, along with “Win or Lose,” an original series. Pixar will see how these shoes perform before committing to more.

I hope that we will not release another feature film on Disney+. If we do more stuff for Disney+, it should be a series, and then that makes a clean demarcation between what we do for theaters and what we do for streaming.

Jim Morris

Docter specifically expressed his interest in another sequel to “Finding Nemo” (2003). The first film, directed by Andrew Stanton, was released in 2003 and grossed over $940 million. “Finding Dory” (2015) grossed $1.029 billion.

Where else have we not gone in the ocean? The ocean’s a big place. I think there’s a lot of opportunity there. We’re kind of fishing around—ha-ha.

Pete Docter

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Construction Boxes in Front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland for Pavement Painting

There are four construction boxes up in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, reportedly because crews are repainting part of the park’s giant compass rose.

Disneyland Construction Boxes

A wooden barricade blocks a path in front of a castle at Disneyland Park. People with strollers and young children are seen around the barricade.

The boxes are tall and gray with slightly pointed walls — making them look a little like castle towers. They are on the four points of the compass rose on the ground in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Groups of people are scattered around a public space with trees and a carousel in the background and a small rectangular wooden structure in the foreground.

“N,” “S,” “E,” and “W” are usually visible in gold where the boxes currently are. The letters, and possibly the pavement around them, are being touched up.

People stand and walk in front of a castle at a theme park, with two large gray barriers placed on the pathway.

The other lettering on the edge of the compass reads “When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.” The construction boxes may move positions if crews work on other parts of the compass.

A group of people walking in a public park with trees and a partly cloudy sky. A circular stone pathway with various engravings is visible in the foreground.

The area is still open for guests to walk around the boxes and take photos.

For more Disneyland Resort news and info, follow Disneyland News Today on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news worldwide, visit WDWNT.

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New Menu Items Heading to Docking Bay 7

Docking Bay 7 is delivering some new bites for Batuu travelers. What’s Happening: Docking Bay 7 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is adding two new menu items on June 3rd. Black Spire Mousse: White chocolate jogan fruit mousse atop a brownie pistachio brittle served with blue milk sauce, pineapple cream, and hibiscus sponge topped with a chocolate […]

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Disney Parks Instagram Shares Another Look into The Finale of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

After a few days of huge reveals, Disney Parks has shared another look at the sights and sounds of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’s finale. What’s Happening: In anticipation of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Disney Parks’ Instagram page shared a fun teaser video of the E-Ticket attraction’s grand finale. In the video, Cast Members for the attraction can be […]

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“Live with Kelly and Mark” Guest List: Amy Poehler, Leslie Odam Jr. and More to Appear Week of June 3rd

Live with Kelly and Mark has announced their special guests for the week of June 3rd. Among the guests joining for a virtual or on location appearance are iconic actors and lifestyle experts. What’s Happening: Every day millions of Americans tune in to ABC’s nationally syndicated, long running morning talk show Live with Kelly and Mark for […]

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